Reading Room Document

Constitutionality of Legislation Prohibiting the Mailing of Sexually Oriented Advertisements

A draft bill that would prohibit the mailing of photographic sexually oriented advertisements without the addressee's prior written consent, and that would create strict criminal liability in any person who knowingly sends any sexually oriented advertisements to minors, regardless of whether the advertisements are photographic or not, would likely be held unconstitutional by the courts. The provisions in the draft bill are more extensive than necessary to support the interests asserted by the government, and thus would be held inconsistent with protections accorded commercial speech under the First Amendment. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23651/download.

August 9, 1984